Hundreds filled the front steps of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis Nov. 20 following Mass to witness the closing of the church’s Holy Doors, marking the end of the jubilee Year of Mercy. Among them were Jonathan Thompson and Julia Waletzko, who had held hands and grinned as they passed through the doors a final time. The pair, who met at the Basilica at a Bible study on Valentine’s Day, had gotten engaged just hours earlier.

Visiting young women rescued from forced prostitution and meeting with a mother inconsolable over the loss of one of her newborn triplets are images from the Year of Mercy that Pope Francis said remain impressed on his heart.

The Year of Mercy brought more than 20 million pilgrims to Rome, but for Pope Francis, the idea always was that the celebration of God’s mercy would be local: have people experience God’s love in their parishes and send them out into the world to commit random acts of mercy.

“I ask your forgiveness if I have ever offended you with my words or for not having said something that I should have,” the pope said Nov. 11 during an audience with pilgrims attending special Year of Mercy events for people who are homeless or otherwise socially excluded.

Nearing the end of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis paid a visit to seven families formed by men who left the priesthood to marry. The Vatican said the visit was a sign that God loves and is merciful to everyone experiencing difficulty.

For Jesus Christ to offer humankind his mercy, it took offering his pain and suffering from his passion and death on the cross.

Pope Francis called the world to “constantly contemplate the mystery of mercy” in his papal Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which will conclude Nov. 20 on the feast of Christ the King. The Holy Father wrote, “At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.”

Just recently, three women gave me a ride. One of the women asked a question that began a conversation about suffering. This later prompted an email to me from one of them who was aching both physically and spiritually. She was then about to have — and has now had — a surgery that has uncovered the need for another, more aggressive surgery. The physical pain has tapped into the spiritual pain. It nearly always does.

A Year of Mercy-inspired icon has been visiting parishes around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and will be featured at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis Nov. 20 for the closing Mass of the Year of Mercy.